The Salish Sea is a great example of a beautiful place where people and the natural world are dependent on one another. In scenic locales like protected national parks, people are not so much participating in nature as they are observing it. In the Salish Sea people are fishing, heating their homes with firewood, and more.

In this short segment is a “b-side” for the mini feature film, Returning. In the clip, SeaDoc Society Science Director Joe Gaydos reflects on what makes this ecosystem special.

Our Science Director, Joe Gaydos, will be honored with the Local Hero Award at the Friday Harbor Film Festival on San Juan Island this fall! The award will be presented at 7pm on October 27th, the final night of the festival. If you’re interested in attending the event, which takes place at the Whittier Theatre at the San Juan Community Theatre, check out their website for ticket information.

Jump on board the Nancy Bee as we relocate a stranded harbor seal pup from San Juan to Yellow Island, where adult seals regularly haul out. Not all pups can be expected to survive pupping season, but this gives little Z8 a chance... This work is done in conjunction with the Marine Mammal Stranding Network and The Whale Museum.

In early August, three Southern Resident killer whales were declared dead by the Center for Whale Research. That brings the population down to just 73. Each of the dead whales are from separate Southern Resident pods.

“There is nothing good about losing three animals in a population that was numbered at 76,” said SeaDoc Science Director Joe Gaydos. “In no way can I find a silver lining to this news.”

A local crew of sailors and marine scientists are leaving on an expedition this week to look for the rarest whale in the world, the North Pacific right whale.

The expedition will be led by Kevin Campion, founder of marine education nonprofit Deep Green Wilderness and member of SeaDoc Society’s Board of Directors. Campion and a crew of four are setting sail out of Dutch Harbor, Alaska on Wednesday, August 14, en route to the Bering Sea to continue their search for the rare whale.

Dr. Nina Bednaršek will receive the 2018 Salish Sea Science Prize for her work on the effects of ocean acidification on pteropods.

Dr. Nina Bednaršek

Ocean acidification is a threat to marine ecosystems around the world and the Salish Sea is among those most vulnerable to its effects. Recognition of the problem is new and there are practically no measures in place to regulate or manage it.

Enter Dr. Nina Bednaršek, a scientist with the the Southern California Coastal Waters Research Project and winner of this year’s Salish Sea Science Prize. Through years of groundbreaking science, Bednaršek and her collaborators discovered that tiny marine mollusks called pteropods can be used to understand the biological effects of ocean acidification, which is a growing threat due to human-caused pollution. Pteropods are an indicator species for the ecosystem as a whole.

“The Salish Sea is one big ocean acidification hotspot,” said Bednaršek. “It’s corrosive from late fall through winter, including early spring. It’s so severe that it’s not just impacting pteropod shells; it’s impacting their survival.”

The SeaDoc Society, a program of the UC Davis Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center, awards the Salish Sea Science Prize every two years to recognize scientists whose work will result in the improved health of fish and wildlife populations in the Salish Sea. It comes with a $2,000, no-strings attached cash prize and will be awarded to Bednaršek on April 4 at the opening plenary session of the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference in Seattle.

There are currently no established ways to evaluate and regulate the effects of ocean acidification, but Bednaršek’s study of pteropods has laid the foundation for that to change.

Her work began in the Scotia Sea off the Southern Ocean, which is an intense upwelling region where deep sea water naturally rises to the surface – a characteristic shared by the west coast of North America, including the Salish Sea where she would go on to study extensively.

Throughout her studies in these ocean acidification hotspots, Bednaršek and her collaborators observed the severe dissolution of pteropod shells, which are typically about as thin a human hair.

“Under normal conditions the shell is smooth,” said Bednaršek. “But in corrosive waters it becomes opaque and fragmented.”

As their shells become damaged, their stress levels rise and they reallocate energy in an attempt to fend off death, leaving them heavily compromised and prone to infection and predation. Pteropods are a crucial food source for many fish in the Salish Sea, including salmon.

Within a few years, Bednaršek published nine papers describing how pteropod dissolution correlates with physical and chemical stressors in our region, which can be tied to sewage dumping, storm water runoff, carbon emissions and climate change. The highest impacts she has observed throughout her studies have been in the Salish Sea.

Bednaršek’s work shows that more than half of the pteropods along the west coast already show evidence for severe shell dissolution, and the individuals affected could be correlated with the local ocean acidification stress.

Bednaršek and her collaborators have already developed a set of ocean acidification indices that could be used by coastal States and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to address water quality issues with respect to ocean acidification, and she has translated that research so that it can be used in water quality management.

“Science is crucial in driving changes in policy and management,” said Bednaršek. “You need solid scientific evidence to detect how humans are impacting the environment.”

Dr. Bednaršek's work makes it clear that ocean acidification is already having an effect on biological organisms and is an unprecedented threat on our ocean’s ecosystems. Her work with this tiny creature is filling large gaps needed to drive the kinds of management actions that will be needed to mitigate ocean acidification.

"Science plays a critical role in restoring ecosystems like the Salish Sea,” said Joe Gaydos, SeaDoc Society Science Director. "The Salish Sea Science Prize is designed to recognize how science helps us figure out what to do when we are faced with evolving challenges like ocean acidification. We couldn't be more honored to give Dr. Bednaršek this award."